Pan Ram Route Day 2-An Even More of a Day!

Packing up for Day 2!

Our goal was to get rolling at 8:00. Well, it wasn’t exactly 8:00, but we’ll continue to work on that. We had about 42 ish miles, and a crap ton of elevation gain in 3 major climbs, and a few minor ones too. The longest climb would be more than 7 miles with an average grade of 7%.

The first five miles or so were along the river. It was great gravel, flat, and beautiful. 

I kept hoping to see a moose. I did not see one. 

Once we turned away from that river, we started the first climb. It was too bad. We were lulled into a sense that today wouldn’t be so hard. 

The route notes said to get water at Teepee Creek as there would be no more water sources until Devil’s Elbow campground. We decided it made sense to also eat lunch at the creek. 

That’s the creek down below that we would eventually get to. 

Jana, Bethany, and Steph getting water. 

Ginny getting water just below the bridge. 

After lunch we soaked our shirts in the river in preparation for the big climb. They were dry before we even got to the start of the climb. 

Once we started climbing, it was everyone just go your own pace. Steph, a most awesome climber, was out front. Bethany was bringing up the rear. The other three of us traded places throughout the climb. Usually I was in the middle. We all had to take multiple breaks. I was lucky to be able to get a quarter mile before having to take a break in the shade. The climb was relentless. I turned on music.

The top of the hard part was Spyglass Saddle. Steph and I walked up to see the view. There wasn’t much of one, so we took a selfie. 

Bethany reaching Spyglass. 

Okay, here’s a view just after the saddle. 

Steph and I headed out first. We expected the others to be right behind. Jana wasn’t far behind. We three arrived at the other side of Grassy Mountain pretty close together. That was the last big climb for the day. We waited to start the downhill because there was a turn. Bethany and Ginny didn’t come along. We told some ATV guys to watch out for them. We also asked a motorcyclist to check on them. After about an hour, they finally came riding down the hill. Turns out Ginny had had a little mishap with her front handlebar harness. It caused her to crash. She was okay, just a little banged up. Bike was okay too. 

Pano coming down Grassy Mtn. 

It was about 7:00pm. We still had 14.2 miles to go, but it was mostly downhill. We all stayed together, and made it to a dispersed campsite on the river just before Devil’s Elbow campground at 8:00. 

Nice view of the river from our campsite. 

We were all very exhausted, so just set up camp, ate dinner, and went to bed. It was a very long day.